


Hiding Hero

by kittykruger



Category: The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, That's it, They're just mischievous children having fun, that's the whole fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:14:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23732908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittykruger/pseuds/kittykruger
Summary: The citizens of Hyrule all know that the Hero of Time has unmatched prowess in battle. They know of his ability to use any weapon he picks up, and of his immeasurable courage in trying times. How many know him as the child he really is? Join him in a simple game of hide-and-seek with Zelda. Oneshot. Pure fluff.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Hiding Hero

Every citizen of Hyrule knows that the Hero of Time has unmatched prowess in battle, the ability to use any weapon he picks up and immeasurable courage in trying times. Most know of his charitable heart, humble background and forgiving nature. Only some know of his childish, almost innocent way of seeing the world around him. Only a select few know of his ability to sneak around unseen and his mischievous personality. Today he decides to test his not-as-well-known attributes in a challenging and mind-boggling game of…

…hide-and-seek.

Link quieted his breathing as his eyes followed the form of the young princess Zelda through the small holes of the face guard. He mentally chuckled at the ingeniousness of his idea. Several suits of armor lined the hallways of the castle; they were all as empty as a goron's stomach. Zelda would never suspect that Link was hiding in one of the hundreds of statues standing guard in the corridors of the castle… would she? He quickly pushed down his doubt as Zelda's form finished crossing his line of vision. He had long since learned not to underestimate Zelda's wisdom, but his hiding spot should at least last for a few minutes before she found him.

The soft steps of the princess had begun to fade when she called out, "Link! Link, are you there? Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

Link could only smile and keep standing as still as possible as Zelda's steps slowly got further and further away. A loud crash resounded through the hallways, which was immediately followed by a "Nope, he's not in there," and, a few seconds later, "where _is_ he?"

Her question went unanswered. Soon, there was no trace of her or any other living being other than Link. If not for his quiet breaths echoing through the castle halls, he would have thought himself deaf. Minutes seemed to pass. If he wasn't mistaken, the warm light shining in through a nearby window was getting brighter, as if the sun was climbing up the sky. What was taking her so long? Link was sure that Zelda should have found him by now. Was his hiding spot really that good?

Even more time passed.

Link began to wonder if he was imagining things. It couldn't have been more than a few minutes, or he would have been found by now. The suit of armor was really starting to feel uncomfortable. He was glad that he didn't pick one that had its hands up in a pose. His own hands would have completely lost circulation by now.

His stomach grumbled, but Link couldn't figure out why. He just had just finished an early but hearty breakfast before agreeing to play. Maybe it had been a while. He glanced over once again to the window. It _did_ seem as if it were brighter outside. He sighed and cursed himself for picking a hallway with windows that only faced west. How was he supposed to know this would take so long? He rested his head against the back of the slowly warming metal of the armor, and he shuffled his legs into a more comfortable position. The silence was getting to him. Wasn't Zelda supposed to find him?

His stomach grumbled again. It felt like he should have eaten lunch already. Link was no stranger to hunger, but castle life had gotten him comfortable to a strict eating schedule with plates upon plates of food at his disposal. Maybe Zelda had forgotten about him? No, she would never do such a thing.

He must have dozed off a few times, because at one point, he opened his eyes to see that the beams of sunlight were, in fact, coming in in dusty rays. It took a moment for his sleepy brain to register that that meant that he had been here all day. With that realization, his stomach also chose that moment to voice it's complaint to him. That drew the line. He quickly shed the suit of armor, no longer caring if he was heard.

Link stomped through the hallways until he came to the finely carved wooden double doors that signified the entrance to the dining hall. Screw Zelda and her games. He was a growing boy and he needed food _now._ He gave a quick nod to the soldier standing guard by the doors and leaned his shoulder against the one on the right, slowly but effectively opening the heavy door. As soon as the door was wide enough for him to slip through, he moved to enter only to freeze halfway through the entry. There, sitting at the far end of the long table in a chair much too grandiose and extravagant for a single person, was Princess Zelda Harkinian of Hyrule. She was holding a delicate teacup in her left hand and chatting amiably with her caretaker and adviser, Impa.

All thoughts of hunger forgotten, Link shoved open wide the door and stormed across the dining hall. He came right up to Zelda and tried his best not to say something he'd regret later. Impa was, after all, right beside her.

 _"Where have you been?_ I was standing there for _hours_ , waiting and waiting and _waiting,_ and you never found me!" He cried. "You normally find me within a few minutes!"

Of all the things she could have done, Zelda chose that moment to giggle. Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, she lightly tapped him on the shoulder and pronounced loudly, "I found you!"

Link gaped at her. What had just happened? "But..." He cast a pleading look to Impa, whose eyes were carefully monitoring the situation at hand. Link looked back to Zelda, but the pride showing in her eyes was too much. "...couldn't you have just looked for me?"

"Why would I? You just walked right up to me, as if on a silver platter. All I had to do was wait for you to imprudently lose."

Link was at a loss for words. There was no need for them, because his stomach answered for him instead. It rumbled loud enough to hear from the other end of the room. He could feel the immediate warmth flooding to the tips of his ears in embarrassment, all thoughts of anger and betrayal forgotten. At this, Zelda's triumphant expression turned to that of worry.

"Oh, dear. When was the last time you ate, Link?" she inquired.

"Breakfast..." he let out reluctantly. Zelda's eyes widened.

"Breakfast? Link, I thought you would have come out and taken a snack! Dinnertime has already come and gone!" She quickly stood up and hurried to a small side door used by the servants. She peeked in the door and called, "Kitchen staff! I need one large bowl of pumpkin soup and a glass of milk as soon as you can make it!" She then closed the door and returned to her seat.

Impa, who had been sitting to the side watching the scene with twinkling eyes, turned to Link and demanded in a clearly amused voice, "And where is this hiding spot that outsmarted the great Princess Zelda of Hyrule, bearer of the triforce of wisdom?"

Before he could reply, Zelda huffed. "He didn't outsmart me; _I_ outsmarted _him._ " 

A servant entered in from the servants' access room, arms laden with a platter with steam rising from it. Both Link and Zelda turned at the sound, and Zelda quickly arranged the items on the table to make room. As she did so, she sent him a smirk and added, "I bet you hid in someplace silly!"

Link returned her look, then replied. "I hid in a suit of armor in the west wing. The one with the big sword on its side. I'll have you know that you walked right-"

"Great!" Zelda squealed, not letting him finish the sentence. She stood and started to head for the big double doors, Impa close behind. "Now you can't hide there tomorrow!"

At that point, the servant arrived at Link's place at the table lowered first the steaming bowl of soup, and then the glass of milk in front of Link. Every kitchen worker knew that pumpkin soup and milk were Link's two favorite foods, so there was no doubt as to who the food was for. Link seemed torn between answering Zelda and digging into his food, but his choice was made for him as the deep thunk of the door closing signified her departure. He immediately grabbed his spoon and began shoving the still-steaming soup in his mouth. It was only after his bowl was completely empty and the last drop of milk gone that he paused to fully consider Zelda's words.

_"Tomorrow?"_

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this around 7 years ago, and posted it on fanfiction.net at the time. Now that I'm getting involved with the Legend of Zelda fandom again (did I ever really leave?) I figured I should put this on my Ao3 account as well. This time with a light amount of editing and revision! I hope you all enjoyed it! I'm trying to get back into making fanworks again, so if you have an idea of anything funny or fluffy, please send it my way!


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